Army Staff Sgt. Maudlyn White, 38, was confirmed
dead yesterday by the Department of Defense.

White, who was born in St. Croix, lived in
Arlington and had a 5-year-old daughter and four brothers and sisters.
White's stepfather, Richard Irish, declined to talk to a Washington Post reporter. But in an interview with
the Virgin Islands Daily News, he and White's friends described her as
a quiet person who was independent.

"She likes to do things her own way, and that's
why she joined the Army," Irish said.

-- Andrew DeMillo

NOTE: Sergeant White was laid
to rest in Section 64 of Arlington National Cemetery, in the shadows of
the Pentagon.